New Workforce Development Contract is with Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation

Germantown, MD – September 13, 2016 – SkillSmart announced today that it has been retained by Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation in Anne Arundel County, Maryland to staff retail and restaurant positions at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI Airport).

The hiring and skills-matching technology company, working in partnership with Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation (AAWDC), BWI Airport and AIRMALL USA, will develop a customized online experience at https://bwicareers.skillsmart.us through which job seekers will find open positions, as well as the corresponding job profiles that identify the unique skills required for each position. By focusing on the skills required by employers and those held by job seekers, both candidates and employers can evaluate whether the two are well-matched.

“This partnership is a unique opportunity for the greater Baltimore community to connect local employers at the airport with qualified candidates looking for jobs,” said SkillSmart CEO and co-founder Michael Knapp. “We are looking forward to working with AAWDC to help develop the local workforce and build growth in the regional economy.”

By understanding the specific hiring needs of AIRMALL’s employers, SkillSmart and AAWDC can assess the skills in the workforce and create a pipeline of qualified talent for the open positions at BWI Airport.

The job portal will go live in mid-September.

###

About SkillSmart

SkillSmart is a for-purpose tech company that is reshaping how employers identify and hire talent. Its employer-driven hiring platform helps growing organizations and industries find the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills rather than traditional proxies like degrees or certifications. We are based in Germantown, Md. and help empower employers and job seekers to make the right match in states across the country. For more information, please visit www.SkillSmart.us or find us on Twitter @SkillSmartUS and Facebook @SkillSmartUS.

About Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation

AAWDC is 501C3 nonprofit corporation that provides innovative, high quality workforce development services to Anne Arundel County businesses and citizens.  AAWDC is the bridge between understanding the workforce and talent development needs of local and regional businesses and preparing individuals to meet their full career potential. For more information please visit www.aawdc.org.

For more information, contact:
Kyle Friis, kfriis@skillsmart.us
(301) 250-1015

by Alison Rice, AgWeb.com

Spend just a little time talking with dairy farmers, and you’ll quickly learn about one of their key pain points: finding and keeping good workers.

“We do have a lot of challenges in New York that’s keeping farms from expanding,” Tonya Van Slyke of the North East Diary Producers Association told AgDay this summer. “The first one is really labor.”

It’s a challenge that extends to both hiring and retention. “It’s just difficult to find that person who wants to put in a long day, get dirty, and come back the next day. The folks we have tried to hire typically will stay six or nine months and then they will go on,” added Sarah Noble-Moag of Pavilion, N.Y.

If this situation sounds all too familiar, Mike Knapp has some ideas for you.

“Most employers are pretty bad at identifying the skills they need,” says Knapp, CEO and co-founder of SkillSmart in Germantown, Md., who urges ag employers to focus not on applicants’ specific job title history, but the skills they used in those jobs and whether or not those are a good fit for your operation.

He also encourages ag employers—farmers, ranchers, ag retailers—to think longer term about each new hire and how they might contribute to the future of your operation and even the industry overall. “You can’t just make sure you have the right person today,” says Knapp, particularly if you hope to grow your farm operation. “There is a big gap between the smaller family farms where a few people do everything to the large operations where things are more specialized.”

For smaller farm operations, that’s an advantage worth highlighting with applicants. Rather than pitching a position as just a job, tell potential hires what skills they will learn and how those might fit into their future ag career, Knapp advises.  “This can really help smaller farmers get the entry-level workers they need and also build the pipeline for the industry,” he says.

Afraid of investing all these extra effort only to have these more promising workers leave too? That’s understandable, but Knapp reminds farmers to stay committed to hiring quality workers and helping them develop their skills, rather than simply filling the slot with someone who is good enough for now. “The reality is you’re seeing the same turnover (regardless of who you hire), and you’re not getting the good people,” he warns.

Read the Article   Download the Tear Sheet

Our friends at General Assembly recently published a policy briefing worthy of a read by every business. Here are a few of the most salient points.

Explosive job growth in high-tech fields is creating unprecedented opportunity for social and economic mobility. But it also creates unprecedented risk of exacerbating income gaps and inequality if new categories of jobs exclude a generation of talent because they didn’t attend the right schools or have the right initial job experiences. Skills-based hiring isn’t about abandoning the college degree, but it is about using data to identify job candidates that can succeed, without regard to signals like college ranking or social networks. Innovate+Educate defines skills-based hiring as “the act of incorporating a tangible and objective measure of skills and skill level into the hiring process.” It’s not a new idea, but it’s a powerful one.

Building “a global community of individuals empowered to pursue the work they love” starts with developing the skills and competencies to launch a career. It’s about cultivating the talent that exists in unexpected places, and creating a more diverse workforce that draws upon our nation’s collective skills and perspectives. But it also means addressing the “last mile” challenge of bridging education and employment that leads to diversity gaps in high-growth fields and hybrid jobs.

Large employers know that a more diverse workforce is a more talented workforce, but often struggle to identify candidates from diverse social and educational backgrounds. The use of predictive analytics in the hiring process is in its infancy. As a result, employers often fall back on sorting mechanisms like college rank or degree that make the hiring process manageable—but risk excluding hidden talent.

“Employers are the most important piece of the skills-based hiring puzzle,” said Jamai Blivin, founder and CEO of Innovate+Educate. “Employer demand has the power to impact every other component of the ecosystem, from which competencies job-seekers must demonstrate, to the process by which they can do so.”

Skills-based hiring is particularly relevant to technology jobs, where skills (quality of code, for example) are easier to assess. It is no surprise that investors have been drawn to skills-based hiring startups focused on technology skills. In fact, VC funding for recruiting technology startups was $219 million in 2014, double the investments seen in 2009.

“Employers are eager to use practical assessments because they are strong predictors of success on the job,” said Kieran Luke, General Manager of Credentials at General Assembly.

Assessments for workplace competencies allow employers to more quickly identify individuals with important skills, saving time and money. According to a report by Innovate+Educate, skills-based hiring practices can lead to reductions in turnover (25-75% improvement), reductions in time-to-hire (50-70% improvement), reductions in cost-to-hire (70% improvement), and reductions in time needed to train employees (50% improvement).

Read the Article

Over the last few weeks, our team has been on the road meeting with various clients, partners and industry groups. The common theme: how we can work together to solve the nation’s skills gap through a better, more qualified workforce.

Maryland Hospitality and Lodging Association

We are proud to support the hotel and lodging industry in the region. Co-founders Mike Knapp and Jason Green recently met with American Hospitality and Lodging Association President Katherine Lugar for their Legislative Wrap-Up. The Association provides advocacy, information and recognition to advance the interests of the lodging industry in Maryland. The industry had another banner year in the Greater DC region, and feel fortunate that our platform is being used to source candidates into jobs and careers in the area. More >>

Arizona State University GSV Summit

As our award for winning the Employment Technology Explosion pitch competition at 2015 Innovate-Education Conference, SkillSmart was invited to present at the ASU-GSV conference last month in San Diego. Jason presented at the three-day, fast-passed amalgam of start-ups, emerging companies, large philanthropy and venture capital. In addition to incredible contacts, SkillSmart was honored to be showcased as one of the companies to watch out for in the workforce/talent development technology space. More >>

Columbia University

John Dillow was invited to participate in a panel discussion at Columbia University on Solutions to Post-Incarceration Employment and Entrepreneurship: The Role of Businesses and Universities. He shared how the SkillSmart platform can be a tool for the re-entry community. SkillSmart’s platform can be used to identify skills acquired by those seeking employment as well as identify appropriate and beneficial training that leads to employment in the community. More >>

Bay Path University Women’s Leadership Conference

Mike attended the 21^st Annual Bay Path University Women’s Leadership Conference in Springfield, MA. More than 2,200 hundred attendees participated in the conversation relating to “what does it mean to thrive?” Keynote speakers included headliners like Marlee Matlin and Arianna Huffington, and perhaps lesser known (but not for long), Veronika Scott from The Empowerment Plan in Detroit. It was a great opportunity to talk with the attendees and community about SkillSmart and how we can help job seekers and employers thrive by focusing on skills needed to be successful. More >>

by Dan Glaun, MassLive.com

In 2013, Mike Knapp, a former council president in Montgomery County, Maryland, and Jason Green, a White House counsel, launched SkillSmart, a business they hoped would change how companies and communities connect workers with job openings.

Now, SkillSmart is on the front lines of one of MGM Springfield’s most anticipated promises: To hire 3,000 workers once the downtown Springfield casino opens in September 2018.

“It’s unique to Springfield. What we’ve been doing for the last two months is reaching out to community based organizations,” Knapp said in an interview. “We’re trying to tie those in so it’s not just a tool that individuals can use.”

MGM Springfield recently launched its online job platform, using SkillSmart as its platform. While applications will not be open until 2018, jobseekers can create profiles and see how they match up with about 80 positions, from the casino floor to administrative offices.

“What we do is we really break down that job description to 15, 16, 18 skills, that a job seeker can look at and say ‘Oh, I’ve done those things,’ ” Knapp said “The employer can much more readily assess what they can contribute to their organization.”

The MGM Springfield platform connects jobseekers with courses at local colleges like Holyoke Community College, Springfield Technical Community College and Greenfield Community College that are tailored to provide missing skills, Knapp said.

Read the Article   Download the Tear Sheet

by Dan Glaun, MassLive.com

MGM Springfield has launched an online job portal, allowing jobseekers to check how their skills match up with the thousands of positions that will be filled as the casino nears its Fall 2018 opening date.

The portal, viewable here, features listings ranging from card dealers to chefs to financial analysts. About 80 of the more than 100 anticipated job classifications are currently online, said MGM Springfield Director of Training and Workforce Development Marikate Murren.

And while applications are not yet open, jobseekers can create profiles that will match their skills and experience to available positions, and link them to courses at local colleges that can make them stronger candidates. The goal, Murren said, is to allow workers to increase their job readiness for when MGM begins hiring an anticipated 3,000 employees in early 2018.

“This will tell people what the positions will be when we ramp up,” Murren said. “We’re letting people know, hey, this is what you’re going to need from a prerequisite perspective.”

The system, which is currently being used to actively fill positions at MGM’s National Harbor casino in Maryland, assigns a score for open jobs based on workers’ education, skills and life experience, Murren said. The company has partnered with local institutions like Holyoke Community College and Springfield Technical Community College to connect potential applicants with job training programs.

“Our hope is to raise the job readiness in general in Springfield,” Murren said.

Read More

Navigating The Transition From School To The Workplace

AS PUBLISHED BY THE DIANE REHM SHOW ON APRIL 14, 2016

Freshly minted graduates will soon take their degrees and set out into the workplace. But the path from college to career is not as obvious as it once was. Over the last few decades, unemployment among young college graduates has gone up while wages have gone down. Today, nearly half are underemployed. Add the burden of student debt and life post-graduation can seem pretty scary. A longtime chronicler of higher education says it doesn’t need to be that way. In a new book, he lays out a blue print for navigating the transition. A panel of experts joins him – and us – to discuss life after college.

The Diane Rehm Show invites four guests to discuss the transition and how recent graduates can navigate successfully in the workplace.

Guests Include:

Jeffrey Selingo regular contributor on higher education, the Washington Post; author, “There is Life After College: What Parents And Students Should Know About Navigating School To Prepare For The Jobs Of Tomorrow”
Anthony Carnevale director and research professor, Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University
Kristen Hamilton CEO and co-founder, Koru
Andy Chan vice president for innovation and career development, Wake Forest University

EXCERPT:

MS. KRISTEN HAMILTON: But, for example, I think what sits in the chasm between college and career really boils down to three things. It’s that they are missing relevant skills that are specific to jobs. But it’s, as Jeff said, it’s not just about those hard skills. It’s also about a set of experiences and a set of networks. And just even knowing that they need to network, right? Which is just this sort of idea that there’s this whole set of other impact skills and soft skills which really tend to be the most important things that they are lacking that helps them to make that transition. And so what we’re really done at Koru is we’ve taken the employer view. We really tried to understand what is it that employers need for our early-career hires? And we try to communicate that to college graduates. We try to help employers select people based on those right things. And then we also try to help those college graduates to really gain those things to land in jobs that they will love.

Listen to the discussion

Joint effort to reduce the skills gap by equipping job seekers with 
skills matched to in-demand jobs

Germantown, MD – April 20, 2016 – SkillSmart and Saylor Academy announced today that they are partnering to accelerate skills-based learning and employment opportunities. Together, SkillSmart’s skills matching algorithm and Saylor Academy’s cost-effective training platform will streamline the pathway from education to employment for job seekers.

Ninety percent of employers believe that graduates lack the skills they need, while nearly 50 percent of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed and saddled with significant debt, according to recent reports from the Hay Group and the New York Federal Reserve. Recognizing that matching skills to employment opportunities yields the most successful workforce outcomes, SkillSmart will direct job seekers to Saylor Academy for courses and training opportunities that build the skillsets needed for specific job opportunities. The students of Saylor Academy will use the SkillSmart platform to identify and apply to employment opportunities relevant to the skills and credentials they’ve earned.

“We’re happy to introduce this new partnership with Saylor Academy; it enables job seekers using SkillSmart to more easily find valuable courses at virtually no cost,” said Mike Knapp, CEO of SkillSmart. “Together we will continue to address the workforce skills gap and create a more talented workforce.”

SkillSmart is committed to empowering individuals and employers to maximize their potential by identifying and matching the skills necessary for success. Saylor Academy is dedicated to maintaining open access to learning opportunities while reducing the cost of training and education that provide requisite credentials for the workforce.

The SkillSmart/Saylor Academy partnership has begun benefiting both employers and job seekers in the greater National Harbor, MD region. Currently, several job openings at MGM Resorts National Harbor, hosted on the SkillSmart platform, require skills that can be obtained via Saylor Academy’s courses in business, finance, accounting and human resources.

“Through this partnership, job seekers will be able to develop the skills that are in demand through Saylor Academy, and our students will be able to match to viable employment opportunities,” said Jeff Davidson, Director of Strategic Relationships for Saylor Academy. “Open Education Resources like our courses can be deployed to address skills gaps in many sectors, we just need employers and funders to come together to make it happen,” he added.

Users can log on or create a SkillSmart profile at mgmresorts.skillsmart.us to review open opportunities and available training.

###

For more information, jgreen@skillsmart.us, (240) 498-4492.

About SkillSmart

SkillSmart addresses the skills gap by transforming the talent development pipeline. By using skills to connect employers, job seekers, and educators, SkillSmart creates the transparency to match qualified applicants to employment opportunities and create a qualified talent pipeline. SkillSmart helps job seekers become better qualified through the understanding of the skills they have and the skills they need for certain positions. For employers, SkillSmart helps them identify new talent, and nurture and grow existing talent. For educators, SkillSmart helps them develop curriculum that meets the in-demand skills needs of regional industries. For more information about SkillSmart, visit the company’s website at skillsmart.wpengine.com.

About Saylor Academy

The Saylor Academy is a nonprofit academy that provides tuition-free courses fully online. Individuals can start whenever they want, work at their own pace and earn free certificates for all courses and tuition-free college credit for select courses. Saylor Academy’s mission is to provide educational resources, learning technologies, and open access to credentials and other learning opportunities. For more information about Saylor Academy, visit the website at www.saylor.org.

For generations, the middle class has played a central role in the American economy – promoting the development of human capital through skilled workers and creating stability within political and economic institutions. However, despite its significance, the middle class has been shrinking steadily since 1971; it is at its lowest point in history. While the middle class shrank, the opposite held true of the lower and upper classes. Now, for the first time, the upper and lower economic tiers combined are now equal in size to the middle class.

A growing upper class without a continued strong middle class will lead to inequality on many levels outside of income alone, including family structure and education. The middle class is the foundation for the majority of jobs that comprise the domestic workforce.

There are tens of millions of middle-skill jobs in the United States today making up the largest segment of our labor market. Despite the presence of 5.4 million open positions nationwide, we are experiencing the highest unemployment or underemployment rate among our young people in history, including those with a college degree.

Read more about how the decline of the middle class can be reversed.

Download the White Paper

As we kick off a new year, we want to wish everyone a fulfilling and prosperous 2016. We’re excited by both the challenges and opportunities we’ll face this year, and we’re encouraged by your continued interest and support of our mission to empower employers and job seekers to maximize their potential.

The Community Impact

At the start of 2016, we have over 5,000 people using SkillSmart, actively building their profiles, understanding how their skills match a myriad of hospitality jobs, and enhancing their skills to become more competitive for the opportunities they like. We have more than 70 courses listed from institutions like Prince Georges Community College, Montgomery College, the College of Southern Maryland and more.

2016 will be a big year for the National Capital Region as MGM Resorts International opens its new $1.2 billion facility in National Harbor. MGM Resorts National Harbor will hire more than 3,500 employees to create an experience to remember for their guests. This hiring process will kick off on January 21st with a career showcase at Martin’s Crosswinds in Greenbelt, MD.

We are pleased to support MGM Resorts National Harbor in this process by helping them identify job seekers with the right skills to make the new resort and casino as successful as possible.

If you or someone you know is interested in a career with MGM Resorts National Harbor, start your profile today!

Beyond the Capital

This year also means expansion beyond the Washington, DC region. SkillSmart will work in the Springfield, MA community to fill a number of job openings across employers. We’ll also build a workforce pipeline for future economic growth in the region.

Soon, we will announce a new partnership that brings SkillSmart to employers in other communities across the US. Our partnerships will improve hiring processes and build a stronger workforce that enhances our economic potential and performance.

Enhancing the Fit

We’ve been working hard to have our platform integrate dynamic features to enhance the fit between employers and job seekers. Early this year, we’ll launch new features and product offerings expand our offerings to employers and making it easier for our users to connect. Stay tuned for additional releases and updates!

We’re excited about the opportunities before us and are looking to accelerate our ability to meet the needs of our customers. We’ve started our first round of fundraising to develop new features and functionality more quickly to help our current and future customers find the right talent sooner.

More and more employers, job seekers and educators are recognizing the importance of skills to be successful. We have the platform that connects all the assets needed to make this happen.

We look forward to working with you in 2016, here’s to a great year ahead!